GreenWorks 21212 String Trimmer Review

Let me start off by saying I consider myself a manly guy so I don’t really appreciate the neighbors I enjoy having a beer with see me waiting in my back yard impatiently while my wife’s poodle takes an hour to do her business.

I also don’t like having my wife mad at me so I realized I better buy a new weed trimmer after losing that little dog in our own forest wasteland known as that back yard (for a little dog she sure produces a lot of lawn fertilizer if you know what I mean.)

Now it’s not that I’m lazy and let my yard grow at will, it’s just the fact that I’ve been waiting since last fall for my deadbeat brother-in-law to return a fully-functioning Echo 225 that I found at a garage sale last year.

You and I both know that my trimmer has seen no less than 7 pawn shops by now (even though my wife insists he’s bringing it back this weekend) so I decided to pick up a back-up trimmer. I didn’t want to break the bank just in case Gamblin’ Gary returned my nice gas trimmer by some miracle so I decided to look for an inexpensive trimmer that can allow Snowball 3 to make a trip to the backyard without getting attacked by a jungle cat.

What I was looking for when I bought the GreenWorks 21212

There were a few things I had on a checklist when I was shopping online for a new trimmer. There really wasn’t a priority list but I finally decided on a GreenWorks 21212. I had my reserves about switching from a powerful gas trimmer to what I thought was a weak corded model befitting the poodle owner that I’ve apparently become but so far the GW has outperformed my expectations in a number of areas.

Price

The way my life works is that as soon as I cancel a credit card I find it in the pocket of my jean jacket or the minute I pay Netflix for a lost copy of Battlefield Earth it shows up in one of my wife’s Pinterest projects.

Therefore I wasn’t in a hurry to spend upwards of $300 on a new grass trimmer to replace my ‘lost’ model that was pretty reliable. I was able to find a 21212 model for $29 during an online sale although after some research I found out the list price is more in the $50 range.

Either way, I got a great deal for about what I can spend on a bottle of whiskey and if the unit turns out to be a piece of crap I’ve got an extra $20 to put towards that much needed bottle.

Cord

The one thing I was most concerned about with the Greenworks 21212 was switching to a corded string trimmer. I had used gas trimmers since working in a landscaping business in high school.

Luckily my house had ample power outlets on the outside so using the cord wasn’t as annoying as I expected. The Greenworks unit even had an integrated cord-locking unit that hasn’t even dislodged when an aggravated poodle thinks it’s a playtoy.

Power

For the most part, corded string trimmers have less power than their gas counterparts for the simple fact that they lack a heavy-duty motor. Corded trimmers, battery trimmers, and even gas powered models benefit by being used more frequently than to use them in extreme situations.

My lawn wasn’t as overgrown as I made it out to be but it also wasn’t the ideal trimming situation to give a review. After eradicating the 2 foot weeds with a borrowed gas trimmer and even a hand machete (really!) I was able to use my Greenworks 21212 in a more traditional setting. I was pleasantly surprised with the power that a corded unit could pack.

I think a big beneficiary to this exact Greenworks model is the dual string line, which always enables more cutting efficiency. As long as you can avoid 2 month jail terms over the summer and keep your lawn trimmed efficiently this model packs plenty of cutting torque.

Convenience

I’m a pretty big guy (6’4”, 225 lbs) so I had no problem lugging around the 7 pound trimmer for about 35 minutes. I imagine my wife could handle it just fine if she’d ever alter her Maury Povich, Rachel Ray, and Days of Our Lives marathon scheduling. (I should note she’s also 6’4 but hasn’t been 225 since our wedding day…and not in the good direction.)

There is an adjustable shaft on the model but I think it would be more comfortable to those 6’2” and under. Another convenient note is that the handle of the Greenworks model rotates for easier edging and trimming under bushes.

Final notes

One other nice selling point is the fact that this Greenworks model emotes no carbon footprint at all. On top of that, the four year warranty is almost double the industry standard which is a nice touch. I guess the fact that I only paid $29 for the model and I won’t have to load it up with expensive gas every weekend is a great way to ease my current financial burden…yes my wife has switched her dog to an expensive organic diet and has enrolled it in poodle yoga.